Lite Up
by Midnight Lost
Summary: What happens when Shinji begins to try new things? This fic is rated T for strong language and suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

Lite Up   
Chapter 1: The Addiction   
by: shinji_the_assassin   
  
Warning: WAFF ahead, beware, the clowns will come and get you in your sleep.   
  
  
  
  
"Come on, try it." the girl persisted.   
"No I don't want to." Shinji simply replied as he stepped   
away from her.   
"Here, I'll tell you what, you try it and if you don't like it, , I won't bother you again ok?"   
"No, I don't want to try it, I got enough problems and I don't need to add to them."   
"That's what your worried about, this will make you forget about your problems." she said.   
"Really?" Shinji asked doubtfully.   
"Yeah, here try it." the girl held the joint in front of Shinji.   
"OK, I'll try it," Shinji gave in, "besides only once can't hurt me." and took the joint.   
"Remember, you have to hold it in for a while to get the full effect."   
"I'll keep that in mind." Shinji said and raised the joint to his lips and took a long drag. He coughed a little but managed to hold it in. He held it in for about thirty-five seconds before he had to let it out. He started feeling a tingling sensation running through his body from the lack of oxygen in his blood.   
"So what exactly is this stuff?" Shinji inquired.   
"Mary Jane." she laughed.   
"What?" Shinji asked again a little confused. "What does Mary have to do this stuff?"   
"What, damn your high already." The girl took the joint and took a long drag off of it.   
"No I'm not, give me some more."   
"Here ya go." She passed it to him.   
Shinji took another long drag from it and held it in longer than before getting more of the effect as his eyes began to water and he began to get a little dizzy as if the whole world was spinning. He began to laugh a little at the things going on around him, but not much, more like chuckling or giggling.   
"So where do you get this at if I may ask?" he asked.   
"I grow it and so do a few others I know but they don't live here." She answered. "Why, you thinking of buying some?"   
"Maybe." He took another hit from it.   
"Here," the girl reached into her back pocket and pulled out another joint.. "This one is on me, the others you'll have to buy." She said and gave it to him.   
"Okay," he said as he took it and placed it in his back pocket.   
"its probably going to be gone by tonight. " he laughed.   
" I wouldn't doubt it, you smoked most of this one." She said with a laugh. And finished off the rest of the joint throwing the remainder on the ground and stepping on it like she would a cigarette.   
"So uh who are you, I mean what's your name?" Shinji asked still laughing. "I've seen ya around and heard bad things about you but I never actually talked to you, not to mention that I don't talk to many people anyways."   
"Well, my name is Akane, Akane Kitsao, and I bet every one else says to stay away from me, that I'll get you into trouble and that I'm a bad person, yeah I heard what they say and I don't care." She answered with a laugh.   
"Well, I can guess we'll be seeing more of each other, I'm actually glad that we met, I usually don't talk to many people."   
"I hope so, oh here, before I forget," she took out a small note book and scribbled down a number. "here my number, call me if you need any or just want to talk." She smiled as she handed him the peace of paper. At that point the bell rang, telling the students that lunchtime was over and that it was time to go back to class. Shinji and Akane made there way out from behind the tree and walked down the hill towards the school building, laughing at every thing that was going on around them as their highness was at its peak. Shinji spotted Kensuke trip and fall over his own two feet and busted out laughing even harder than before, Akane joined him in the laughter as well, seeing the same thing.   
"I would like to know what's so funny?" Hikari asked as she approached the two, who were still laughing and laughed even harder as she came up to them.   
"What is so damn funny?" Hikari shouted at the two clearly getting pissed.   
"Nothing." The two answered at the same time, resulting in another wave of laughter. Hikari then noticed that both Akane and Shinjis eyes were bloodshot.   
"What did you guys do at lunch?" she asked, she had only heard stories of what people looked like when they got high but never actually seen some one in that condition so she wasn't sure or not.   
"Nothing , Shinji and I just hung out together and talked as we ate our lunch, any trouble in that?" Akane quickly shot back at the class rep.   
"We just talked that's all, Hikari, you think I would do anything bad?" Shinji caught on to Akanes plan and helped her along. He knew that Akane didn't want no one else to find out what they did.   
"I don't believe you." Hikari said.   
"Believe what you want, but right now your keeping us from getting to class." Shinji said in defiance as he walked past her towards the school. Hikari just stood there in disbelief; 'Shinji has never shown any kind of attitude towards anyone, what was going on here' Hikari wondered. Akane soon followed Shinji and the two started laughing again as they discussed their encounter with the class rep. Hikari was still standing in the same spot when the tardy bell rang, bringing her out of her thoughts about her encounter with the two, she realized that she was late and ran straight to the classroom as fast as she could. When she arrived there, she found Shinji and Akane laughing at the teacher as he went on explaining life before the Second Impact, and how the Impact has changed his since. Hikari was clearly upset and assigned them after school chores for a week, again the two laughed.   
Rei watched from her desk and wondered why Pilot Ikari was acting so strange. She then made a mental note to inquire about it at a later date and resumed staring out the window.   
  
About an hour later, the effects were almost gone and Shinji was in a drowsy state. He laid his head down on his desk and was beginning to drift off to sleep when his computer beeped.. He looked up and saw that he had a message from desk 23. He clicked on the window to expose the message.   
(Akane) Hey Shinji, you there?   
(Shinji) Yeah I'm here, what's up?   
(Akane) NM, just wanted to know something   
(Shinji) Ok, what would you like to know?   
(Akane) You want to do "it" again tomorrow?   
(Shinji) Sure, same place?   
(Akane) Yep, it's the best place to do it at   
(Shinji) so shall I save this one?   
(Akane) No, I'll bring the goods, I'm over stocked lol   
(Shinji) good, I'll probably finish this one tonight   
(Akane) that's good, just remember that its out little secrete   
(Shinji) yeah, I heard it was illegal before the Second Impact.   
(Akane) Still is   
(Shinji) cool   
(Akane) well, we only have an hour to wait and I am about to go to sleep, see ya later   
(Shinji) yeah me too, see ya after class   
The two closed their chat windows and laid their heads down and quickly fell asleep as they waited for the last hour of class to go by.   
Little did they know that Hikari had monitored their conversation. 'Illegal, what is illegal that their doing?' she though to herself in silence.   
  
An hour later Shinji woke up just as the bell rang. He looked back and saw that Akane was still asleep. He gathered his things and walked back to where she was seated. He then woke her. Soon the two were on their way out of the school.   
"So, we meet at the same place tomorrow?" Shinji asked.   
"Yep" Akane answered.   
"Where do you live actually?"   
"I live over near 7th street, you know, all the abandoned low rent apartments."   
" Oh really, I know exactly where those are, I know a girl who lives out there."   
"Really, who?"   
"Umm you know Rei Ayanomi?"   
"No, I don't, oh I was meaning to ask you, have you ever tried any alcohol?"   
"No why?"   
"Cause your going to try some this weekend, then we can have some more fun." She laughed already planning something.   
Shinji was about to object but remembered what Kaji had told him about alcohol; 'Alcohol isn't bad, it's a mood enhancer, if your feeling good when you drink it, you'll feel even better, but if your in a bad mood you'll be in a worse one and not easy to get along with.'   
"Alright" he agreed.   
  
"Anti-baka, would you wait up for me." Asuka shouted as she tried to catch up to the two.   
"Great, here she comes." Shinji said in a low tone, just loud enough for Akane to hear.   
"Who's she?" Akane asked   
"My room mate and the biggest bitch I know."   
"Would she like to try some?" she laughed a little.   
"I wouldn't suggest asking her." He told her.   
"She's that bad uh?"   
"Yep."   
  
"Why did you leave me behind baka?" Asuka asked with an attitude.   
"Because he didn't feel like waiting for you, he had more important things to do." Akane jumped between the two.   
"Who the fuck are you?" Asuka asked with venom in her voice.   
"I'm the best thing that has happened to him since he came to NERV." Shinji could only stand back and laugh at the situation, some one was actually talking back to Asuka other than Misato.   
Asuka was a little surprised. She looked over to Shinji with a glare. "You told her?"   
"No he didn't tell me, everyone knows that he pilots Evangelion Unit 01 and that you pilot Evangelion Unit 02."   
"Well, at least I'm a better pilot then this pathetic wimp." Asuka said with more triumph.   
Akane slowly began to walk around Shinji, placing her arm around his shoulder as she did. " That's not what I heard, I hear that Shinji has shattered your scores."   
"He was just lucky, nothing more." Asuka said as she crossed her arms.   
"Really, he must be very lucky if he could do it time after time."   
Asuka couldn't take anymore and knew she had lost this argument, "Come on Shinji, we need to get home."   
"Actually, I'm going to walk Akane home." He said.   
"Fine go with that bitch, see if I care." Asuka ran off, tears forming in her eyes, but no one else noticed.   
Akane and Shinji could only laugh at their encounter as they walked on. Soon they arrived at Akanes apartment, it was in the section of town where they always seem to be doing some construction, because there was always construction vehicles parked along the road.   
"So this is where you live?"   
"Yeah lovely place uh?" she teased.   
"Oh yeah, great" he laughed.   
"So Rei lives around her you said?"   
"Yeah she lives over in that building; room 214." He said as he pointed to one of the abandoned buildings.   
"Cool, hey wanna come in for a minute?" she asked as she opened her front door.   
"Sure" he answered.   
The two stepped inside the apartment. Akane closed the door behind them as Shinji looked around the room. He noticed the paint on the walls pealing off, the couch old and broken down, propped up by old hardback books. And clothes all over the floor.   
"Can I get you something to drink?" Akane asked.   
"No that's ok."   
"You sure, I got plenty of beer."   
"Thought we weren't doing that till this weekend?"   
"Its ok if we start a little early." She said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer and brought them back with her, handing one to Shinji. "Go on try it"   
Shinji took the bottle, "Alright" he agreed. He then opened it and took a drink, making a face at the taste of it. " I still cant see how Misato can stand this, it taste awful."   
"You'll get used to the taste." Akane said as she took a drink from her own bottle.   
"If you say so." He took another drink. About half way through the bottle he ignored the taste. Akane was now closer to him and Shinji didn't seem to mind, she slowly began to move her face closer to his looking into his eyes. Shinji already guessed what she was trying to do but wasn't afraid this time like he was when Asuka wanted to kiss him. Instead he met it straight forward. To Akanes surprise he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, letting his tongue slip inside her mouth, Akane stiffened as he did this, she didn't expect him to be so bold in this area. She moaned softly into his mouth, both of them enjoying it as their hands began to explore each others body. Shinji brought his hand up to stroke her hair when he noticed the time on his watch.   
"Oh shit, I have to go, damn." He said.   
"Damn, we'll finish this weekend?" she asked in a flirting voice.   
"You can bet on it, see you tomorrow." He said and left.   
  
He slowly made his way back to Misatos apartment. About forty-five minutes later he arrived there, his head still swimming from what he had just done, but he liked it.   
"I'm home." he called as he entered.   
"Where have you been?" Misato asked as she walked into the living room.   
"I met a new friend today and walked her home." He answered.   
"Yeah," Misato smiled, " I heard you had a new girl friend." She couldn't resist to tease him.   
"I'm guessing Asuka came home and complained about her."   
"Actually shes stayed in her room ever since she got home, but I did get a call from Hikari." Misato said   
"Oh and what did she have to say." He asked in a nervous voice.   
"She said you weren't acting yourself today, that you were more lose than usual."   
"Yeah, I let a few things out at lunch."   
"Well, I'm glad you found somebody to talk to." She said believing what he said to be true. "Well, I have to go back to the office, I left some instant meals on the table for you two."   
"OK." Shinji said and made his way to his room and threw down his books. 'Shit that was close' he thought to himself 'but it was exciting doing something I know I'm not supposed to do'. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the joint that Akane had given him, along with the book of matches that she had just given him.   
"Shinji are you home?" Asuka asked from her room.   
"Shit" he said in a low voice, and dumped the two items in his top dresser drawer. "Yeah," he called out.   
"Finally you get back, what were you doing, kissing her?" Asuka asked with venom, clearly in a pissed off mood.   
"Umm no, we got there and she invited me in for something to drink." He answered.   
"Yeah, well I don't like her." She spat.   
"And just how many people do you think like you?" Shinji shot at her. This caught her by surprise.   
"What?" she asked a little confused.   
"How many people do you think actually like you as a friend?" he asked again.   
"Lots of people," she came to her arrogant self again, "there's Hikari and....and...."   
"She's the only one." He said.   
"What about you, you like me don't you?" she asked, with a hurt sound in her voice.   
"Asuka, I thought I did when I first saw you, but since then you acted like a grade A bitch towards me so I lost those feelings, and you want me to like you?"   
Asuka couldn't take this anymore, she turned and ran into her room slamming her door.   
'Oh well' Shinji thought. He then made his way to the kitchen and began to prepare his and Asukas dinner. Figuring that Asuka would be in her room for a good amount of time, he opened the fridge and grabbed one of Misatos beers. He then proceeded to open it and drink. "Now I know why Misato drinks this all the time." He said to himself, and quickly finished off the can as the timer on the oven went off. He disposed of the can and set the two trays on the table along with the silver wear.   
"Asuka, dinners done." He called out, not expecting her to come, but to his surprise she did. The two sat and ate their dinner in silence.   
"What's going on with you Shinji?" Asuka broke the silence.   
"What do you mean?"   
"You've changed a lot ever since this morning. Your not acting like yourself."   
"I thought you wanted me to change, grow a little back bone."   
"Not like this, you totally ignored the stooges today after lunch like they were nothing, you had an attitude with Hikari and you came home late, and its all after you met your new friend."   
"Well, she happens to be a very close friend of mine, she makes me feel good about myself."   
"How you only knew her since lunch?"   
"She has her ways." He smiled. "and she doesn't yell at me or make fun of me."   
Asuka fell silent. She slowly ate the rest of her dinner. Shinji finished off his tray and made his way to his room, Asuka soon went to her own room thinking over the discussion they had. Shinji then closed his door and walked over to his dresser and took out the two items he deposited earlier and sat down on his bed. He looked at the joint for awhile before he brought it up to his lips. He then lit it and took a long drag, held it in for awhile and then exhaled. As he smoked it the smoke drifted from his room to the others of the house, finally it fell into Asukas room. She sniffed curiously at the unknown smell. She then got off her bed to see where it was coming from. Water began to fill her eyes as she breathed in more of the smoke. She began to feel a little dizzy and tried to shake it off as her body began to feel numb. She stumbled out of her room and feel against Shinjis door. Shinji heard the thump, and set the joint on his dresser and opened his door to see what it was. Once he opened his door he saw Asuka sitting there, beginning to giggle.   
"Asuka?" he asked a little confused while trying to hold in the laughter.   
"Shinji? What's going on, I feel so weird, but good."   
He reached down to help her up to her feet. She stumbled a little and grabbed hold of him for balance.   
"Why is the room spinning?" she asked.   
"It's not, here." He decided to try it. He reached back and grabbed the joint and offered it to her.   
"Those are drugs Shinji."   
"Yeah but it's what's making you feel good."   
"Really?"   
"Yeah."   
She took it and took a small drag from it, Shinji then took it back and finished it off. As he exhaled he noticed the room filled with smoke.   
"Ah shit, I forgot to open the windows." He said as he walked over and opened his own, then took off his over shirt, feeling a little warm.   
"Did I ever tell you how cute you looked?" Asuka said between giggles as she looked up at him.   
"No, but you did tell me how much of an idiot I am, and that you hated me." He said a little confused at what she just said.   
"Lies, all lies; I really like you, just couldn't bring myself to tell you.." She admitted.   
"You never acted like it."   
"I couldn't, because I didn't know how."   
"Well, try honesty, it works a little better."   
"Hey Shinji, can you get some more of that, it was good,"   
Shinji laughed at this . "Yeah, I can. That's what I was going to do in a few minutes.." He then put some of his money in his pocket and walked out the door and called back. "If Misato comes back, tell her I went over to Toujis house."   
"Alright." She answered, still lying on Shinjis bed coming off her high.   
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Alright as you should know, I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gainax does. Also none of the events in this fic happened and never will happen. Now that we got that straight lets move on to the authors notes.   
  
  
Authors notes: Ok, Well that was chapter one, as for a few things in the story, I am not sure how the class room chat is run, but I figured Hikari is a the class rep which would give her access to other students chat, as for the desk setup, I just described how it was in my computer class. OK and later I just put a number for Reis apartment cause I couldn't remember what it was. And one last thing I feel I must say the "Just Say No" speech but I wont, you are smart so if you want to do it, I'm not going to stop you, basiclly I could care less. But I hope you enjoyed my fic, more chapters on the way.   
  
  
Next chapter: The Passion   
Akane and Shinji get a little close to each other, Asuka has said her feelings for Shinji, so this leaves Shinji to decide which one to go for, maybe both. Read to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

Lite Up  
Chapter 2: The Passion  
By: shinji_the_assassin  
  
I am sorry for the long wait, I was trying to juggle, working, school and writing this fic. But here it is, the   
long awaited chapter two. I would like to say if anyone would like to write any sidefics to this fic or   
chapter, go ahead. I have purposely left open some areas so that it can be done. Well have fun, I will not   
make any promises when the third chapter will be up, but it will eventually.  
  
  
  
WAFF Ahead, parental advisory may be required.  
  
  
Shinji walked down the empty streets as he made his way towards the run   
down apartment complex that Akane lived in. he fumbled with the wad of money that he   
had in them. Lost in his thoughts he was at Akanes door before he realized it and stood   
there a moment deciding weather he should knock yet or not. He took a deep breath and   
rapped on the door.  
"Coming" the voice inside, said. Soon the door opened exposing Akane in a bath towel.   
"Shinji, I didn't expect to see you at this time of night."  
"I'm sorry I can come back at another time if you are busy right now." He said and then   
turned to leave. Akane reached out with one hand and took hold of his to keep him from   
leaving, as she did this the part of the towel she was holding dropped exposing her right   
breast. Shinji noticed this and quickly looked away. Akane then pulled him inside the   
apartment, Shinji offering no resistance.  
"I'll be out in a minute." She said as she walked into her bedroom to get dressed. A few   
moments later she returned wearing a long black T-Shirt that had 'Metallic' written on   
the front of it in a bluish color, and a line of grave stones on the front.  
"So uhhh, what did you need?" she asked as if she didn't know.  
"Well I kinda smoked all of what ya gave me and came to buy some more; I have   
money." He said as he pulled out the wad of cash from his pocket.   
"Put that back in your pocket." She smiled as she sat down on the couch, "I think we can   
make another arrangement for tonight."  
Sitting down as well on the couch Shinji asked, "What do you mean?"  
"Remember what we started earlier?"  
"Yeah kinda"  
"How bout we finish where we left of." She gave a mischievous grin as she got closer to   
him in a seductive manor.  
"You mean have sex?"  
"Don't you?"  
"Sure I do, but aren't we a little too young for this?"  
"It has to start sometime, why not make it now?"  
Shinji couldn't respond to this, he knew she had a point there; it was bound to happen   
some time. Akane then wrapped her arms around his neck seductively. Shinji was still   
unsure of what to do.  
"Come on." She persisted.  
"Are you sure you want to do this." He asked still skeptic about this.  
Her only response this time was her moving closer to him, tighting the embrace she had   
on his neck. Her dark brown eyes looking deep within his serene blue eyes, all of what   
Shinji was thinking was quickly erased once their lips met, locking them in a firm   
embrace. She then slipped her tongue into his mouth. As she did this Shinji let out a   
muffled cry because it surprised him when her tongue made contact with his. Her hands   
exploring all over his bodies, even places he'd think he'd liked to be touched, and to his   
surprise his hands where also exploring her body and all its forbidden areas. Each of   
them was swimming in a world of pleasure neither of them had ever felt before, as if they   
were exploring uncharted territory. Akane pressed her weight onto Shinji forcing him to   
lay back as the kiss continued; their breaths becoming more ragged as their excitement   
grew larger than ever before. Akane then started to peel the cloths off of Shinji, letting   
them land where ever, soon Shinji was also stripping Akane of what she was wearing,   
(which wasn't much). Two hours later found the two laying next to each other still trying   
to catch their breath from their recent exercise.  
'That..was..my…first….time." Shinji panted out.  
"Mine…too…..wow that felt great, better than I thought it would." Akane answered "and   
it didn't hurt as much as those movies showed it did." She gestured to a stack of   
pornographic tapes on the floor. Shinji only nodded, he didn't feel any pain other than   
when Akane had raked her fingernails acrossed his back. He then looked over to his left   
and saw a clock. Noticing the time he shot up into a sitting position.  
"SHIT!" he said "I need to go, I am going to catch hell from Misato." He then quickly   
stood up and began searching for his cloths. After finding his pants and a shirt hethen   
proceeded to get dressed, he stopped only when he heard Akane laughing about   
something.  
"What's so funny?" he asked.  
"Nothing, you just put on my shirt." She giggled, "Looks good on you."  
He looked down at the shirt he had put on and sure enough written on the front of it was   
'Metallica', he then blushed and started to take it off.  
"Keep it, I got another." She smiled as she picked up Shinjis dress shirt and out it on, the   
buttons still undone exposing her chest.  
Shinji then nodded and walked over to her and said in a soft voice "I have to go."  
She nodded back and kissed him before he left. When they broke the kiss Shinji started to   
leave forgetting what he had originally came over for until Akane stopped him and placed   
a small paper bag in his hand. "Don't smoke it all in one day."  
Shinji smiled and kissed her again "I will try not to." And then he left her apartment,   
making his way back to Misatos . Forty five minutes later he opened the door to the   
apartment only to see a very concerned and very pissed Misato.  
"Where the hell have you been?" She nearly shouted at him as soon as he entered the   
room.  
"Um I was with Akane." He stammered.  
"Asuka said you were at Toujis , I called him to ask if he had seen you and you know   
what he said?"  
"Not really" Shinji said  
"He said he hasn't seen you all day today."  
"I know I was with Akane"  
"And who is he?"  
"SHE is my new friend, the one I told you about earlier today." He answered "She invited   
me over to her house to talk." He lied.  
"Oh," Misato said, surprised that Shinji was actually talking with other people, but still   
confused that he just blew off Touji like that, they always hung out together. She then   
noticed the shirt he was wearing.  
"Whose shirt is that?" she inquired.  
Shinji looked down at the shirt he was wearing and remembered he wasn't in his usual   
attire.  
"Well its mine." He said, he wasn't lieing Akane did give to him so now it was his.  
"I never seen you wear that shirt before."  
"That's because Akane just gave it to me."   
Misato gave him a questioning look when he told her that.   
Shinji knew what she was thinking and also put in "No she wasn't wearing it when she   
gave it to me." This wasn't a lie, for she wasn't wearing it when she gave it to him.   
Misato nodded and then looked at the clock. "You'd better get to bed, we have to wake   
up early tomorrow."  
"But tomorrow is Saturday, we don't have school."  
"Have you forgotten already?"  
"Forgotten what?"  
"Tomorrow Akagi is conducting more tests with you three pilots."  
Shinji groaned, with his recent activities he forgot everything to do with NERV   
and the Angels. "Alright he trudged off to his room.  
Misato sighed and turned to her own room.  
  
At almost seven the next morning Shinjis alarm went off. He reached over lazily   
and hit the snooze button and then laid there falling back asleep still tired from   
what he and Akane had done. Thirty minutes later Asuka came in to check on   
how he was doing. Seeing he was still asleep she went to his bedside and gave   
him a little shake to wake him. Stirring from his sleep, still not quite awake he   
reached up and pulled Asuka down and gave her a gentle kiss. Asuka let out a   
muffled scream not expecting this. Shinji then opened his eyes and saw who it   
was and quickly broke the kiss. Asuka didn't know what to think of this, she   
was both surprised and angry. Surprised that Shinji knew how to kiss as well as   
he did just then, and angry by the fact that he broke it off too soon as if it were   
meant for someone else. She then turned and walked out of the room without   
saying a word. Moments later Shinji emerged from his room, wearing the same   
cloths he had on last night.  
"Aren't you going to change you cloths Shinji?" Misato asked.  
"No, I feel comfortable wearing this." He replied.  
Misato nodded "Well then, if we are all ready lets get on our way."  
Soon they arrived at Nerv HQ. Shinji and Asuka went a little further ahead than   
Misato. Asuka looked back to make sure Misato was out of ear shot before she   
asked Shinji. "So uh, you get anymore last night?"  
Shinji nodded his head yes "Its back at the apartment."  
"Umm why did you kiss me this morning?"  
Shinji looked at her for a moment and then straight ahead. "I thought you were   
Akane, I'm sorry."  
Asuka looked to the ground as she walked forward both of them going through   
door after door "So you two are.. together then?" she asked a little hurt sounding   
in her voice.  
Shinji nodded. "Yes."  
Soon they arrived at the hanger for the Evangelion Units. It was a very large   
room, it had to be, it held the Evas in the pools of LCL. Rei was already on the   
bridge, prompt as usual for her.  
"OK you three suit up and get into your entry plugs so we can get on with this   
sync test, we have more to do after this" Akagi ordered.  
Without another word the three entered the appropriate locker rooms. Shinji   
went into the males locker room as Asuka and Rei went into the females.  
"Asuka, may I inquire something?" Rei turned to Asuka as they were getting   
dressed into the plug suits.  
"Uh what?" Asuka looked to Rei, fearing that Rei had already some how found   
out about what her and Shinji had done last night.  
"Do you think Pilot Ikari has been acting strangely lately?"  
Asuka stopped putting on her plug suit, caught off guard by this question. 'Had   
it been so obvious' she thought to herself.  
"Asuka?"  
"Uh no, I…. I havnt noticed anything strange about him." She quickly put on   
her suit and left the locker room.  
Rei noticed the stutter in Asukas voice and came to the conclusion that Asuka   
was not being honest in her answer. She decided to investigate this further later   
on. She to then finished dressing and exited the locker room.  
Soon all three of the pilots were back in the hanger. Shinji was already there   
getting into his entry plug for Evangelion Unit 01.  
"Ok you two, get into your entry plugs so we can begin." Akagi ordered. Both   
Rei and Asuka went over to their Eva plugs and entered them. Once aall three   
pilots were in their designated entry plug, Dr, Akagi pressed one of the many   
buttons on her control panal, which closed the entry plugs and inserted them into   
the Evas.  
Inside the Evas, all three pilots were deep in thought. Rei was now wondering   
why both Shinji and now Asuka were acting different than their usual selfs.  
In Unit 02, Asuka was pondering what she could do to get Shinji away from   
Akane and to be with her. While Shinji could only think of what he was going to   
do after the tests were done, or what Akane had planed for them.  
"Would you three settle your minds on one thing so we can get accurate   
readings." Akagi talked into the comm. System a little annoyed at the constant   
change in sync ratios.  
"Yes ma'am." All three replied.  
Shinji then set his mind to the one thing he looked foreward to most that   
afternoon. Asuka also set her mind to her being with Shinji finally. While Rei   
was still thinking about how strange Asuka and Shinji were acting.  
"Dr. Akagi, you might want to take a look at the reading for Eva Unit 01, and   
02, they seem to be increasing." Maya informed.  
Sure enough both Shinji and Asukas sync ratio was increasing dramaticly.   
Instead of the usual 44% Shinji had he was approaching 78% and Asuka was   
holding at 69%.   
"This cant be, how can they have a sync ratio that high, its not possible." Akagi   
was stunned. She then reached over and pressed the comm. Button again 'OK   
you three. The test is done, go wash up and change. Asuka and Shinji, I would   
like to see you in my office after your done."  
"SHIT" both Asuka and Shinji said under their breathes.  
Moments later found both of them in Akagis office.  
"Your sync ratio was much higher than your usual. Since your last test." Akagi   
began.  
"So I was in a better mood." Shinji answered. Asuka just sat there and said   
nothing.  
"Well I just want to make sure neither of you was infected by the last Angel."  
"Alright" Both Asuka and Shinji groaned.  
An hour and a half went by before they were finished.  
"Well the tests have not picked up anything.". Akagi reported.  
"Can we go now?" Shinji groaned.  
"Yes, you may." Akagi replied.  
"Thank you," Shinji spat with an attitude and walked out of the room, Asuka   
right behind him.  
"He's changed." Akagi thought out loud to herself.  
  
The two turned the last corner and made their way towards Nervs exit.  
"I wonder why Akagi wanted to do those extra tests on us." Asuka pondered   
aloud.  
"Beats the hell out of me." Shinji remarked as he intended to go to Akane right   
then. Just then a blue sports car pulled up.  
"Where are you two going?" Misato asked from the drivers seat.  
"I was going over to Akanes this afternoon." Shinji answered.  
"I would appreciate it if you would ask me next time, guess I'll see you later   
tonight. You coming Asuka?"  
"Um no, I was going with Shinji." Asuka answered.  
"OK" Misato said and then drove off.  
The two then headed on their way.  
  
It was about three in the afternoon when they arrived at Akane door. Shinji   
knocked on the door and then stepped back.  
"Be there in a minute." A voice came from inside.  
A moment later the door opened, revealing Akane in a short black mini skirt and   
a tight black shirt.  
"I thought you would be over today, as you see I am dressed for the occasion   
and we did make our little plans for this weekend right?" Akane said teasingly.  
"Yeah" Shinji laughed.  
"What?" Asuka asked, a little confused at Shinji sudden change in attitude.   
Akane then noticed Asuka.  
"Oh , hi I see we have an extra, I think I have enough for all three of us. Come   
on in." Akane invited them.  
Both Shinji and Asuka followed Akane into her home.  
"Go ahead and make your selves at home, I'll go get the drinks."  
"Alright" Shinji said and plopped down on the couch, acting in a more relax   
fashion than he usually did. Asuka followed suit and sat on the couch next to   
Shinji. She looked around the room noticing how run down and untidy it was. A   
minute later Akane came out of the kitchen area holding three brown bottles.  
"What is that?" Asuka asked even though she already had a feeling she new   
what it was.  
After handing Shinji one of the bottles to Shinji she turned to Asuka holding out   
one of the bottles to her. "Its beer of course, what did ya think it was?" she   
laughed.  
Shinji laughed along with her and opened his bottle and took a drink, not   
bothered by the taste of it anymore. Asuka stared in disbelief at Shinji, not ony   
did he smoke pot, but was now drinking beer, two things Asuka never though   
Shinji would do. Hesitantly Asuka opened her own bottle and took a small   
drink, making a weird face as she swallowed it. Shinji saw Asuka face and   
laughed "What's wrong Asuka?"  
"Nothing, just not used to the taste." She replied  
  
The three sat in the living room, drinking the beer, laughing and becoming more   
and more relaxed.  
"I wish I would have been Shinjis first" Asuka blurted out, the beer obviously   
got to her. Both Shinji and Akane looked at Asuka a little confused by her   
sudden words.  
"Um Asuka, are you feeling alright?" Shinji asked.  
"Yeah I feel great." She said and leaned on Shinji shoulder. Shinji looked from   
Asuka to Akane not knowing what to do.  
"I think I know how we can all be satisfied." Akane said with a grin.  
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked as she looked at Akane from Shinjis   
shoulder, not knowing what she meant. Shinji also looked confused. But also   
had some what of an idea where Akane was going with this.  
"Lets go into my room." Akane said and got up. Asuka got up and followed her,   
Shinji right behind her. After entering her bedroom Shinji then turned around   
and shut the door.  
  
  
  
  
To Be Continued………  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: And as you all know I do not own Evangelion, Gainax does. Nor do   
I own any of the characters in this fic. This is a none profit fic.  
  
Authors Notes: Well there is chapter two. I have yet to mix Rei into this Pot   
smoking fever that is sweeping through our young pilots. You all know that   
drugs are bad for you so I am in no way trying to persuade you to start smoking   
pot through this fic, but weather you do r not is up to you. There I said my piece   
against drugs. 


	3. Chapter 3

Lite Up

Chapter 3: Burning Bridges

by shinjitheassassin

It was nearly noon before Shinji woke up, he found himself sprawled out over Akanes bed with both Asuka and Akane on each side of him, both of their heads resting comforatble on his shoulders, though this presented a problem for him as both of his arms were numb now. Both of them had a satisfied smile on their faces and Shinji began to recount the previous nights events and blushed a little. His thoughts then began to wander to what time it was, Akane had no clock in her room but from the sunlight coming in through the window he figured it must have been mid morning. Carefully he lifted the dead weight of his right arm which was now regaining the feeling in it to look at his watch; his eyes went wide with horror as he saw what time it was.

"Oh shit" he exclaimed

At this Asuka stirred awake looking up at him she gave the best smile she could manage through her groggyness "What is it Shinji?" he asked in between a yawn.

"We're in deep shit, thats what it is" Shinji replied.

"Why?"

Shinji showed her his watch as the time changed to 1o'clock in the afternoon.

"MEIN GOTT!" Asuka exclaimed as she jumped out of the bed, rocking it so hard that it jolted Akane awake.

"Whats going on you guys?" She asked as he looked up at her two companions.

"Asuka and I are in deep shit when we get home" he responded to her.

"Why's that"

"Well, we WERE supposed to be home by 9 o'clock last night. Asuka answered somewhat shooting a glare at Shinji as if to blame it on him. "So Misato probably has Nerv intelligence out looking for us."

"Why are you giving me that look, I didnt hear any compliants out of you last night" He smirked causing Asuka to blush furiously.

"Oh my god guys, I am so sorry" Akane began to apoligize " It was all my fault, if I didn't insist that you stay..." she was cut off by Shinji.

"Dont worry about it, we had a great time last night so I think it will be worth the trouble"

"Yes, yes we did" Asuka smiled, still blushing a little from the events of the previous night.

It took the three another twenty minutes to finally get fully motivated enough to get ready to leave, searching for their own cloths as they were scattered everywhere.

"Here Akane, I found your panties" Shinji laughed.

"BAKA! those are mine"

"Oops sorry" Shinji tossed them over to her.

Finally getting dressed and making sure they had all their belongings Asuka and Shinji were about to leave when Shinji paused for a second then turned and walked over to Akane, giving her a small kiss goodbye then rejoined Asuka

"Hey Asuka, dont wear him out too much, remember we need to share him." Akane laughed

"I'll try and keep that in mind" Asuka laughed back as well as she opened the door to leave.

"THERE THEY ARE" two men yelled.

"Shiest, Nerv Intel are here" Asuka slamed the door shut and looked to Akane "Is there a back door out of here?"

"Yeah we can take the fire escape" she said and lead the way to the back as the Nev Intel began hitting the door to break it down.

The three exited the back door and began quickly making their way down the series of ladders and stairs finally making it to the ally way below. As soon as Akane came off the ladder a nerv intel who came around to the ally grabed her and pushed her to the ground to arrest her

"LET ME GO" Akane screamed

Asuka saw this and looked around real quick, seeing what she wanted she picked up a small brick and hurled it towards the man. There was a loud crack as the brick hit its mark, sending the man down to the ground holding the side of his head as blood began to run. Akane saw her chance and bolted quickly being followed by Asuka and Shinji.

"We need to split up." Asuka said, "Shinji you come with me"

"Hey, I thought you said split up" Akane joked.

"They're looking for us, not you" Shinji pointed out

"I know, good luck you guys" Akane said and bolted off in another direction.

Shinji and Asuka ran as far as the could before the slowed down to a walk to catch their breath, hoping they made enough distance between them and the Nerv intel.

"You know, its weird, I have always imagined I would hate sharing the person I love with someone else, but now, it really doesnt bother me" Asuka thought out loud.

"Person you love huh? I always thouht I was nothing more then a pervert to you" he smiled

"You really are thick sometimes, do you think I would ask just anyone if they want to practice kissing?"

"Actually no" he reassured her

"Good, you should feel fortunate third child" she smiled as she took hold of his hand.

Another forty-five minutes found the two at their door, reluctant to enter knowing full well the tongue lashing Misato was no doubt going to give them, and not the good kind either. Sure enough the second they opened the door Misato began screaming at them to sit down on the couch as she called Nerv to inform them that the children were home.

"THEY DID WHAT!?!" Misato screamed into the phone. "Yes I will take care of it" she said and hung up the phone, then turned to glare at the two on the couch.

Where the hell have you two been?

"We were at a friends house, and just lost track of the time" Shinji answered, which for the most part was true, they were at a friends house, and in the midst of their own activities they didnt bother looking at the time.

BULL SHIT!. I will not accept that as an excuse. You were gone all night and you didnt even bother to call." Misato continued to rant. "And not only that, you attacked Nerv Personel"

"They were hurting Akane!" Shinji shot back. "Besides, we had our cell phones and we could easily hear the alarms if there was an emergency."

"Thats besides the point!"

"Like your one to talk Misato, your always out all night, drinking with Kaji!, and your going to give us a lecture" Asuka retalated. This caught Misato off guard for a split second.

"I'm an adult!" was the only reason Misato could come up with. "Right now I have to go report in, you two are to remain here until I get home. I still havnt decided how I am going to punish you two for this." With that Misato left the apartment.

The two waited a little longer before getting up, making sure Misato was gone.

"Well that went well" Shinji commented with a little chuckle.

"You baka" Asuka sighed "So what now?"

"Well seeing were grounded right now I guess that counts going to check on Akane out of the question, dont think she grabed her cell phone so cant call her either." Shinji answered as he flipped on the television and began browsing the channels, or at least what was left them. With the constant Angel attacks, they destroyed almost all of the local studios as Asuka left the room to go find something to eat. He finally settled on a channel that was showing an older music video. The guy singing was dressed in a pair of low riding shorts that went down passed his knees, his shirt was unbuttoned showing the undershirt he had on which was commonly referred as a wife beater. Shinji never really got why they called it that though.

"Hey Asuka" he called out.

"What" she asked as she re-entered the room and leaned down on he back of the couch just behind Shinji.

"Think I should start dressing like this?" he gestered toward the guy in the music video. Asuka grinned as she imagined how he would look if he started dressing like that

"I think you would look great like that, you should try that tomorrow for school"

Still smiling Shinji looked over at Asuka to saw something but was cut off before he could even start as her lips locked with his as Asuka seized the moment. Shinji was still a little surprise getting this type of reaction from Asuka, he was so used to her threatening him and putting him down, but he was still more then willing to return the kiss as he had no need to feel guilty now that he was dating both her and Akane. He then reached up and wraped his arms around her neck and pulled her over the couch on top of him. Asuka let out a small yelp as she came over but resumed kissing him as she settled comfortable on top of him. Both of their hormones raging now just like the night before as they continued to run their hands over each others bodies, touching various parts, teasing each other to test their limits. Their breaths becoming quickened as they began to explore each other at a faster pace, becoming enveloped in the passion and lust. Just at that moment the doorbell rang. Both of them let out a swear and sighed. Asuka got up and went to answer the door as Shinji sat up and fixed his shirt and went back to watching the television.

"Wheres Shinji?" he heard a very familiar voice come from the next room. It was Hikari.

"Um...hes in the living room" Asuka answered.

"Good I need to talk to him" Hikar said and stormed into the living room where Shinji was. "Where were you yesterday, you had detention remember?"

"Hello Hikari" Shinji greeted with a smile.

"Dont you play innocent with me Shinji, where were you." she asked again, clearly becoming more agitated.

"If you must know I had to go through some tests, so I couldnt have been in detention even if I wanted to."

"Well I guess that cant be helped, so where was Akane?"

"Well evidently she had something better to do." Shinji shot at her with a hint of sarcasim.

"Shinji, why are you acting this way? You've changed alot since you began hanging out with that girl and I dont like it." Hikari said. The changes in Shinji were becoming more evident, he wasnt as reserved as he once was when he first came to Tokyo-3.

"People change, what can I say?" he answered her as he continued to watch the program on the television.

"Well your not getting out of detention that easily, you will serve it today, so lets go." Hikari ordered and turned to walk out expecting Shinji to follow, but he made no move to do so.

"Sorry cant do that." he said with a grin, "Misato said we were not allowed to leave the apartment tonight" clearly using Misatos punishment as an excuse.

"Why not?"

"Because we came home late" he answered, not giving her any time frame as too how late they actually were.

"Well, where is Akane so I can corner her?"

"Don't know." Shinji replied, again another bent truth.

"Well, I expect both of you to be in detention after school tomorrow." Hikari said and turned walking out. Pausing for a moment to talk with Asuka then leaving. Asuka walked back into the room looking at Shinji who was still watching t.v.

"Now why do you have to serve detention?"

Shinji looked up at the ceiling, searching his memory for a second. "You know, I'm not exactly sure, we were both stoned off our asses at the time." he laughed.

Asuka sighed at this with a half chuckle "Well, now that the mood has been ruined what should we do now." she paused for a moment then got an idea before Shinji could even answer "Hey didnt you get more from Akane?"

"Oh yeah I did." Shinji had completely forgotten about it with the days events. "Go open those windows so it doesnt linger, Misatos already becoming suspicious of us."

"Alright" Asuka said and made her way over to the windows and began opening them, a small gust of windo blew in. While she did this, Shinji got him from his spot on the couch and went to hs room, searching his dresser real quick before grabbing a small paper bag that Akane had given him the other night. On his way back to the living room he made a stop in the bathroom and grabbed the can of Vanilla Air Freshner then proceeded to the living room area, plopping back down on the couch next to Asuka. He then produced the contents that the bag held. Taking the lighter in one hand he brought the joint to his lips and lit it, inhaling deeply before passing it to Asuka as he held it in as long as he could before releasing it slowly. Asuka took it, bringing it up to her own lips and following the same actions as Shinji did. It wasnt long before both were feeling the effects, poking fun at the things on t.v.. It wasnt long before this additional noise caught their other room mates attention, as Pen Pen waddled into the room to investigate what was going on.

"Watch this" Shinji said as he took another drag, instead of holding it in, be began blowing it into the penguins face, who had no choice but to breathe it in.

"Thats mean" Asuka laughed as Pen Pen began to squawk annoyingly. A few more times of this saw Pen Pen in his freezer eating non stop. Shinji then got up giving the room a quick spray with the arifreshner then went to go put the stuff away before returning back to the couch next to Asuka again who was already drifting off to sleep, Shinji soon followed.

At around eleven at night, Misato returned home forgetting exactly why she was mad at the two. She sighed some as she saw them both asleep, Asukas head resting on Shinjis shoulder. on the couch with the television still on. Her face then turned to worry as she began to imagine the yelling that would come in the morning and let out a long sigh, might as well enjoy the silence while it lasts she thought and walked over, turning off the t.v. then she retired to her room for the night

It was around seven in the morning before Misato stumbled back out of bed to ensure that the two were up and ready for school. Groaning some as she saw them still asleep and in an even more compromising position. She decided to get Shinji up first, more so to give him a running head start before Asuka would wake up.She shoke Shinji gently to stir him awake.

"What time is it?" he asked sleepishly.

"Shh, dont wake up Asuka." she whisped, she really didnt want to hear Asukas yelling this morning "Its time for you to get ready for school" Shinji nodded and turned to Asuka, gently shaking her to wake up. "No shinji dont..." but it was too late, Misato began to move her hands up to her ears to prepare for the ranting that she thought was going to ensue.

"Just five more minutes Shinji" Asuka said still half asleep and snuggled up closer to him. Misato stood in disbelief as she looked on, Shinji had made contact with her, TOUCHED HER and she wanted to get closer to him and not kill him?!?

"Come on Asuka, we have to get ready for school."

Asuka groaned and slowly sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Gutton Morgan Misato",she said as she stood up, then saw the look on her face and remember that Misato didnt know about Shinji and herself, she grinned inward to herself and decided to give Misato a good show she turned to Shinji as he stood up and greeted him with a deep kiss. This caught Shinji by surprise at first but he was happy to return it, looking out of the corner of his eye he almost laughed at the sight of Misato standing there, jaw wide open. Breaking the kiss Asuka smiled "And dont you forget it third child" she chitted, then proceeded to her own room to get ready, passing Misato as if nothing had happened. Shinji followed as well but entered his own room. Misato stood there a bit longer before moving to the fridge and taking out a can of beer. Looking at it for a second she reached in and grabed an entire six pack before going back into her room. It wasnt long before Shinji and Asuka were both dressed and heading down the street. Shinji of course did as he said and dressed much like he said he was going to, leaving his dress shirt untucked and unbuttoned, exposing his 'wife beater' undershirt.

"Hey, Wait up" a voice called from behnd them. The two turned around to see Akane running towards them.

"Hey there." both of them greeted at once in unison. The three of them laughed at this as they continued to school together. They arrived at school a little later then usual, stumbling into class as the teacher was going on about his normal lecture. Hikari turned and gave the trio a dirty look as they quickly took their seats, taking a moment or two to hear what the teacher was saying. Of course he was still going on about how life was before Second Impact, nothing new. Seeing this they each opened their desktops and entered the schools private chat, creating a private room for themselves.

Asuka How much longer is he going to go on about this? This is boring.

Shinji No doubt.

Akane I agree. By the way Shinji, I like your new look, very hot.

Asuka Hell yeah it is.

Shinji lol ty

Akane So whats the plan for lunch time?

Shinji Well I was thinking about hanging out with Touji and Kensuke, its been awhile since I've talked with them.

Asuka Yeah I was going to try and catch up with Hikari. Feel free to come over and join us.

Shinji Yeah dont be a stranger P

Akane I dont think Hikari likes me too much, so I may hang out with Shinji.

Asuka Yeah, she seems to have a thing against you.

The three of them continued to chat amongest themselves until the lunch bell rang, letting out little snickers every now and then as they made jokes about various students in the class, Hikari most of all. As planned Shinji joined up with Touji and Kensuke while Asuka met up with Hikari.

"Well look whos come back to join us" Kensuke joked as Shinji approached them. "And hes got a new style too" he continued, commenting on how Shinji was dressed.

"Yeah, where you been, we stopped by your apartment this weekend but Misato didnt know where you were, we thought you ran away again." Touji added.

"I was at a friends house." Shinji answered, but didnt give any details. Sitting down continueing to talk with the other two as he kept glancing at the door waiting for Akane to come out, seeing she had to get some books from the teacher to make it look like she was somewhat paying attention in class. He didn't have to wait long, Akane emerged in her usual tight black jeans and a black belly shirt, her long black hair pulled into a pony tail. She looked around for a second until she saw Shinji and began to make her way across the compound towards where he sat.

"Man, why is she coming over here" Touji said, "She dresses so slutty"

"I agree" Kensuke added in. "We like girls and all, but we like them to at least have some moderation."

Shinji couldnt help but laugh "This coming from the two who jack off to porno magazines." he said and got up, Leaving the two of them he made his way to meet with Akane. The two watched as he walked away, wondering what was going on.

"Whats up with him?"

"I'm not sure"

"I thought you were going to hang out with your friends" Akane said as the two met halfway.

"Forget them." he said with a smile as he leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the lips. Both Touji and Kensukes jaws dropped as they looked on in disbelief. Akane and Shinji then began to make their way off campus.

At the same time of this was happening Asuka and Hikari were talking while they ate their lunchs.

"So whats going on with Shinji?" Hikari asked "He seems to have changed alot"

"I like the new Shinji" Asuka commented with a smile "Hes more initiative now"

"And what do you mean by that." Hikari asked, then paused for a second "You dont mean that you...and him..."

Asuka smiled again "Yep,"

"When did this happen?"

"Over the weekend"

"Well perhaps you could talk him into not hanging out with Akane."

"Let me think about that."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THINK ABOUT IT"

"Your right, its a no brainer, the answer is no"

"What? why not?" but Hikari held it right there as she caught a glimpse of Shinji and Akane locking lips and froze. Asuka saw this too but only smiled, she was half tempted to join them but she had already promised Hikari she would hang out with her. Hikari then snaped back from her shock as she saw them leaving the campus.

"We better go stop them."

"What? why?" Asuka asked

"Because, shes nothing but a trouble maker and shes a bad influence and shes going to get Shinji in trouble." Hikari replied and went to take off after them, but was stopped by Asuka. "What are you doing?"

"Just let them alone."

"Asuka, he just kissed her, arnt you upset about that"

"No I am not"

"What, you mean to tell me that, you, him, and her are..."

Asuka only smirked at this.

"YOUR LIVING IN SIN!" Hikari exclaimed. This caught the attention of many of the nearby students, including Rei.

"And its a blast" Asuka smirked and turned to walk away, having enough of this conversation.

"Your gonna end up being a slut just like her!" Hikari stated. At this a fire exploded in Asuka, she wasnt as calm as Shinji was about these things, she whirled around and slapped Hikari hard across the face and turned to hastely making her way to where Shinji and Akane stood frozen at the actions.

"Lets get out of here" Asuka fumed, leading the way. The other two only nodded and completed making their way off campus. They gathered under the large oak tree where Shinji and Akane first met, leaning against the tree Shinji reached into his pocket and removed a single joint with a small lighter. Placing the join between his lips he lit it, inhaling deeply and holding it in, passing the joint to Asuka. Unknown to them, Rei had seen what went on and became curious as to what led to these actions, letting her curiosity get the better of her she had followed them. When she had finally reached them, the three were all sitting under the tree, Asuka rested her head on Shinji shoulder as Akanes head claimed his lap, each taking their turns taking hits from the joint, which was getting smaller with each drag. The three of them looked up as Rei had reached the tree, her eyes searching over them, curious to what they were doing, but her face showed no expression. Taking in mental notes as she looked over them, noticing their eyes bloodshot. Then she focused on the joint held in Shinjis hand.

"What is that pilot Ikari" she asked in her usual monotone voice.

It took a few seconds for the question to sink in about what she was asking about. Shinji thought for a moment, he couldnt find the words to explain it to her, he then decided just to hand it to her. "Here try it." he offered. Rei took it into her fingers looking at it for a moment.

"How do I try it."

"um...You smoke it." Shinji answered, "Be sure to hold it in after you inhale though"

Rei nodded, she was familiar with this conecept, she had seen Misato, Akagi and even the Commander smoke. She then did as she was instructed, bring it up to her lips she inhaled deeply, holding it in until Asuka had to tell her to let it out. It wasnt long before Rei was under its effects, sitting down, more calm as usual as she started the chatter uncontrollably, she actually acted normal for once...well as normal as they could be anyways. The four of them didnt return back to school that day, instead they all made their way to Akanes house.

"So Shinji has two girlfriends" Rei asked Akane after they steped into Akanes apartment.

"Yep" Akane nodded with a smile

"Would he want another?" Rei asked suddenly. Though she never showed it, she had always cared for Shinji, from the very first night he held her in his arms during the third angel attack. He had shown much concern for her welfare during combat just like when she shielded him from fifths angels attack, her only problem was she was unsure how to show it. This caught the other three off guard for a split second, Shinji was dumbfounded. Asuka and Akane looked to each other smirking some.

"I'm sure we can find a way" Asuka answered with a wink towards Shinji. He could only gulp.

"Yeah, he handled us two fine the other night, lets see how he does with three." Akane said seductivly as she began pressing forward to where Shinji stood.

"There is only one way to find out." Rei said as she joined the others. Only one thought ran through Shinjis mind as he was pushed into Akanes room. ' I am going to be tired tonight '.

Authors Notes: Well its about time I got this out, and I guess I owe an explination as to why it took nearly fives years to get this done, though I am sure most of my prvious readers have moved on, this is for the ones who stayed. I began writting this back in 2001 when I first got into NGE. But a series of events unfolded beyond my control. I ended up homeless in the state of Maine for 3 months in 2002 because of listening to bad advice. After doing a series of odd jobs I made enough money to get back to Iowa where I live. From there my main focus was to get a job so I wouldnt repeat the same mistake twice. Finally, after working at a local slaughtering house for a year I managed to save up enough money to get me another computer, but then another addiction came into my life...Everquest, I am sure most have heard of it. I am not looking for sympathy, I learn through life experences, I just feel that my readers deserve an explination. So to make a long story short, after sitting down and watching the entire NGE series from beginning to end I regained my motivation and set to work. More chapters will follow as I already have chapter 4 well underway. I will be introducing another new character in the next chapter. May also add a new Lemon side fic to accompany the current Akanes Room.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters, (However Akane is my own creation, and no the name isnt from Ranma 1/2)With that being said, DONT DO DRUGS!


	4. Chapter 4

-1Lite Up

Chapter 4: The Mark

By: shinjitheassassin

Shinji and Asuka returned home later that day, actually on time. Rei had joined them, all three still lost in thought of what happened the last few hours. Rei for one was completely in bliss , never had she felt the emotion that she just did, then her expression changed as she thought as to what Akagi or Gendo would think of this, she decided she wouldn't tell them.

"Whats up Rei?" Shinji asked

"The Commander." she replied.

"What about him?"

"He will not approve of this." her voice saddened now "So he will not be told"

Both Asuka and Shinji remained silent at this as they stood outside the door.

"I must go" Rei said, still unsure of how to show her new emotions she simply turned and left. Shinji could understand this, he had known Rei to be more than enigmatic and knew it would take her some time. With a sigh both him and Asuka entered the apartment, quickly met with an angry Misato.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TODAY!!" Misato yelled, having heard from Hikari of the days activities at school.

"About what?" Asuka asked.

"What do you mean about what? You slapping Hikari, your own best friend and then Shinji leaves behind his own friends for this Akane person."

"Hikari called me a slut! She needed to be slapped." Asuka stated.

"And I ditched Touji and Kensuke because they called my girlfriend a slut as well, so I……" Shinji didn't get to finish as Misato cut him off.

"Wait? Your girlfriend?" Misato was stunned to say the least.

Shinji sighed as he began to answer. "Yes, Akane and I started going out two days ago"  
Asuka remained silent, not wanting to add more to the mix. She very much so wanted to proudly state that she was dating him as well. Afraid that if Misato found out what was really going on she would separate her and Shinji, taking away her advantage.

"Wait a minute, I thought you and Asuka were…..ok now I am confused." Misato said

'Shit' Shinji swore to himself and quickly began thinking of something to cover it up.

"I got called in tonight to cover for someone, so I wont be back till morning." Misato said as she made her way to the door "The phone lines are still down from the last attack so keep your cell phones on you." With that she was out the door. Both Shinji and Asuka looked at each other.

"Shes going out with Kaji" Shinji said with a sigh.

"Yep" Asuka agreed. "Well that close."  
"Yeah, too close" Shinji agreed, "I'm going to take a shower, I'm surprised she didn't smell the pot on us"

Asuka smiled to herself as a thought crept into her mind. "I'll join you" she said with a bound as she walked over to him, giving him a deep kiss as she grabbed hold of his shirt, pulling him into the bathroom with her. Locking the door behind them before the went on to there own personal activities. After some time had passed the bathroom door opened, letting loose a bellow of steam the hot water had built up in the in closed space as Shinji and Asuka emerged, both fully dressed but out of breath. Sitting down on the couch Asuka flipped on the television. No sooner had they gotten comfortable in each others arms there was a knock on the door. With a sigh Shinji got off the couch and made his way towards the door. He was surprised when he opened the door to find Akane and Rei.

"Heya" Akane said in her usual cheerful tone. Rei just simply smiled.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Shinji asked.

"Oh nothing, I was on my way over to see if you two wanted to join me downtown, and I found Rei on the way over."

Shinji thought for a moment, Misato didn't say anything about them not leaving the apartment, and as long as they had their cell phones on them there shouldn't be any problem "Sure, let me go grab Asuka" he smiled.

"Alright"

Shinji then walked into the living room where Asuka was.

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the two heard Asuka yell in between giggles "That's my breast!"

Both Rei and Akane laughed at this, it seemed Shinji had literally grabbed her. Soon the two appeared from the living room with smiles on their faces.

"Ready?" Akane asked

"Yeah, lets go" Asuka answered. With that, the four of them left. After about thirty minutes of walking Akane stopped them in front of a small tattered building. Various neon lights lit up the windows advertising an assortment of things the shop performed.

"Come on guys, lets go inside"

The others shrugged and followed Akane into the shop. The inside looked a lot nicer then what the outside would have suggested.

"Hey Akane, how have you been?" a voice said from the back of the room.

"Hiya Kate, I'm doing ok, brought some friends this time to watch me." Akane answered.

"Oh, your finally going to get it done?" Kate teased as she came out from behind the counter. She was tall and slender with wavey black hair. Her dark brown eyes scanning over the small group before her.

"Yep." Akane answered with a smile.

"Alright, sit down over in that chair." Kate instructed. Akane did so and waited, she was still a little nervous. Kate then looked at the remaining three. "So you're the new friends Akane has spoken highly of." she smiled then rested her eyes on Shinji "Especially you" Shinji could only blush. "If you three want, I'll give you each the same as I am giving Akane, free of charge."

They pondered this for a moment, surprisingly enough, it was Rei who agreed first, Shinji and Asuka soon followed. Kate simply smiled and nodded. "Alright" With that she turned and walked over to where Akane was. "OK, your going to have to lay face down" Akane nodded as Kate lowed the table Akane was on. Akane rolled over so that her face was in the small hole at its end. Kate then set to work with her tattoo gun and black ink. Akane winced a little as it began, but after fifteen minutes the nerves in her neck had numbed themselves. Another fifteen minutes passed by before Akanes tattoo was done. The other three marveled at the fresh ink and all liked how it looked so there fore agreed to get the same done. Kate sent Akane over to join the others then pointed at Shinji "Your next" she smiled.

An hour and a half passed and eventually all three of them had gotten their tattoos, all of them the same as Akane . "Well, sorry I got to rush you all out but I have a date tonight." Kate informed them as she turned out the neon Open sign in the window. Shutting the blinds in the windows she turned to Akane "Before I forget, this is for you." she smiled as she handed her a small paper bag that was under the counter. The four of them said their thanks and headed out the door and towards Misatos, stopping in at various small stores along the way. Finally reaching the apartment Shinji and Asuka entered first, to see if Misato was home. Luckily she wasn't, Shinji invited the others in. They all headed into Shinjis room, while it was smaller then Asukas because she had taken his original room, his had a bigger window for better ventilation.

"So what now?" Asuka asked

"We could always have an orgy" Rei joked, though with her still somewhat mono tone voice it sounded like she was serious. The others laughed.

"Now we smoke" Akane said, reaching into the paper bag she had and pulled out a small plastic bag that contained the green herb.

"Hold on one second" Shinji said as he turned and reached into his top dresser drawer and pulled out three sticks of insence.

Akane smiled "Your learning." she teased as Shinji chuckled and lit them placing them in various palces in the room then open opening the window. While he did all this Akane loaded the bowl and was already taking the first hit from it, passing it to Rei who was sitting to her right, Rei took a long hit from the bowl, as if trying to out do Akane.

"Hey, puff, puff pass!" Asuka shot at her. The others laughed at this as Rei passed it to Asuka then to Shinji. The pattern continued to the bowl was about half empty. that's when Misato decided to return home. Shinji cursed to himself as he heard her enter the apartment and shoved the pipe under his mattress just before she opened Asukas door, seeing she wasn't in there she opened Shinji's door.

"Oh this is where you are, I just came to tell you that Akagi has a test for the three of you tomorrow after school." she said, then turned and walked out closing the door behind her. She stood in the hall way for a moment, her brain trying to register the small hint of a strange scent that was in Shinjis room. It was hard to tell with the inscent his was burning though, however him burning incence wasn't out of the ordinary, as he ahd been doing that for a few months now, ever since the plumbing backed up. She cringed at the memory of the horrid smell that lingered in the apartment. She shook the thoughts from her head for the time being and entered her own room, getting changed out of her uniform into her normal shorts and tank top combo. However the thoughts still remained. She didn't think Shinji would do anything illegal or bad, though since hanging around with his new girlfriend he has changed a lot, he wasn't shy anymore. She couldn't help but worry about this. With a sigh she made her way to the kitchen and pulled out the six microwave dinners she had bought the other day, assuming they would have guests over for dinner.

Meanwhile in Shinjis room the four decided to take off the bandages that was covering their tattoos, surprised that Misato hadn't noticed them, tossing the used bandages into the waste basket near the door. Admiring each others tattoos, though they were all the same.

"Think Hikari will get a kick out of this?" Asuka asked with a smirk. Knowing when her old friend would see this she would flip out, she didn't know why but she just wanted to piss off certain people. The thought then struck the three Eva pilots, Misato was bound to notice and with their tests tomorrow so would Akagi, but they shrugged it off, too late now. It wasn't long before Misato came back into the room to tell them the dinners were done. And that's when it happened.

"WHEN THE HELL DID YOU GET THOSE!!!!" she shouted, clearly outraged.

"Today" Shinji answered first. The other three didn't say anything. For a few moments there was an awkward silence, before Misato spoke again, this time in a more calmer voice.

"Why?"

"We thought it would be cool" Asuka answered this time.

"You do understand that those are not going to wash off, that your stuck with them for life, believe me I know." Misato said again, going into her mother mode. Though this time her words didn't carry any blame in them, she had gotten her tattoo for the same reason, and plus she was drunk. "I know I am going to hear about this tomorrow "she sighed, "By the way, dinners done." She finished and walked into the kitchen. The four followed and each choose a place to sit. Eating their dinner without a word, Shinji and Asuka had grown accustomed to Misatos cooking, however Akane and Rei where having a hard time trying to stomach it. After eating the four were about to leave when Misato spoke up. "Let me see them"

"Um, alright" Shinji said as he turned around so Misato could see the tattoo on the back of his neck. Misato smiled to herself, she actually liked the way it looked.

"So whose idea was it?"

"Mine" Akane answered.

"Well she got hers first, we decided we wanted one too" Shinji quickly put in so Akane wouldn't have to hold the full blame, if any were to come.

"I see, well I suppose I shouldn't get to upset about it" Misato said with a smile "After all I have one too, you guys have fun, I'll see you later" she said.

With that the four nodded and walked out of the apartment, it was already dark outside. Both Shinji and Asuka were confused as to why Misato was being so calm about it. Did she know about what they were doing? However it was no surprise to them that she had a tattoo herself, with her lifestyle. Shinji had actually seen it once when he accidently walked in on her in the shower.

Not long after the four had left the apartment, Misato got up from her spot at the table and walked to Shinjis room. She felt a little guilty about doing this, but as his guardian she had to check. Her first thought was to check his top dresser drawer, but the only thing she found was a lighter and some inscence, nothing out of the ordinary there. Closing the drawer she sighed and walked over to his bed, looking under the mattress, but again found nothing as Akane had already grabbed the pipe before dinner. Letting his bed back down she exited the room. Maybe she was just being paranoid about the kids. Shinji wouldn't do anything like that, he was too good natured and shy to do something like that. But then again, ever since he had started dating Akane he has changed, a lot. Even the way he dressed, his attitude, and him ignoring his 2 best friends, though she could understand him being upset with them for what they called his girlfriend, but she only knew Shinji to ever hold a grudge against one person, and that was his father. Her mind then drifted to Asuka, she had always teased and berate Shinji, but she hadn't heard the two argue for sometime now. Though peaceful, it felt strange to her. It also seemed like Asuka had traded one friend for another. Not to mention Asuka had also slapped Hikari across the face. The school had informed her that Hikari had a large bruise on the side of her face where Asuka had slapped her, she couldn't help but think if Asuka could have held back at least just a little. Misato sighed, she still thought that there was something that would have caused the change in her pilots. Her thoughts then when to Rei, one who was always quiet, and secluded but tonight she was sitting there with the others laughing and talking much like a normal child her age would. Turning off the kitchen light she retired to her room, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind again. She chuckled some to herself as she imagined how both Akagi and Gendo would take to the pilots new style, especially Rei, their own pride and joy perfect child, how she had been tarnished. It will be amusing to see how Nerv would react to this change in the pilots. She actually liked the change that was going on for the most part, the three were a lot closer now, this would greatly aid them on the battle field. To her it meant they would look out for each other far better then if they were merely ordered to. She wasn't sure why, but she felt she would back them up no matter what. Laying down she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Reaching Akanes apartment they all crashed on the couch.

"Remind me never to eat her cooking ever again" Akane groaned "How on earth can anyone make a microwavable dinner taste so bad, and how the hell can you to eat that?"

"We've adapted to it" Asuka said "I prefer when Shinji is cooking"

"So whats the deal with Misato, she was acting a little weird" Shinji asked Asuka

"I don't know, she didn't make as big of deal out of the tattoos as I thought she would have." Asuka replied.

"So does she really have a tattoo?" Akane asked.

"I don't know" Asuka replied.

"Y-yeah, she does." Shinji blushed

"Where?" Asuka asked.

"Umm, on her left breast."

"And how the hell do you know that?" Asuka and Akane both glared at him, even Rei shot a look of curiosity at him.

"I,.I accidently walked in on her while she was taking a shower." he quickly explained. All three girls let out a sigh of relief. They didn't mind sharing him amongst each other but they didn't want him looking at other naked women.. Akane then pulled the pipe out of her pocket and lit it up again. Taking a deep hit she said in a strange voice as she held it in "Lets finish what we started". The others smiled and finished off the bowl. After about another half hour Shinji and Asuka decided it was time to head back home They all said their good byes to each and went their separate ways for the night, for tomorrow some fun would surely await them.

Authors Notes:

Yay chapter 4 is done, I just had to throw in the whole "Puff puff pass " line, it's a classic. Anyways I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as I did writing it. So how many people are our pilots going to piss off at school I wonder? And for those who have asked, the next chapter will have Mana in it. As for the character Kate, she was actually my first creation before Akane, originally making her debut in a Sailormoon/DBZ fic I was writing, however I decided not to post that fic.

Disclaimer:

No, I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of its characters (however Akane and Kate are of my own creation) all credit goes to their respected owners, for if it wasn't for them making such a cult like anime, none of this would be possible.


	5. Chapter 5

-1Lite Up

Chapter 5: Severed Ties

By: shinjitheassassin

Akanes cell phone rang, waking her up from the dream she was having. She let out a few curses before picking it up and answering.

"Hello?" she said in a sleepy voice.

"What is taking so long?" the voice on the other end harshly greeted her.

"Do you have any idea how early in the fucking morning it is over here?" she spat back looking at her alarm clock which read just passed five in the morning.

"Either way, you are taking too long, We are sending another to speed up the process. Do you understand?"

"Yes." she answered and hung up the phone. "Fucking bastards, they're always so damn pushy" with that she laid back down and fell back asleep.

Shinji and Asuka woke up early the next morning, despite coming in late the previous night.. Being her usual self, Asuka rushed to be the first one in the bathroom to start her own routine before anyone else got the chance. However she did pause a moment to give Shinji a quick kiss good morning, which he gladly returned. It wasn't until Asuka got in the shower when she remembered why the back of her neck was sore. 'This is going to be an interesting day' she thought to herself. Hikari would definitely flip out when she saw the tattoos. She then begin to contemplate how she should show her tattoo, her long hair covered it. After a few seconds she came to a solution. Since the new seating arrangements Hikari now sat behind her, this would be a perfect opportunity. Letting out a soft snicker she quickly finished up with her shower.

While Asuka took her shower, Shinji set to work making their breakfast and preparing their lunches, though he had a feeling they wouldn't be eating them. He then quickly finished off his own breakfast. When Asuka got out of the shower he set her plate down for her and quickly made his way to the bathroom to do his own routine. Not taking any longer then fifteen minutes he quickly hurried up. Re entering the kitchen where Asuka had finished her own breakfast.

"So how many people do you think are going to be upset about our new art work?" Asuka laughed.

"At least three that I can think of right off the bat, Touji, Kensuke wont like it too much I know, and we both know Hikari will have a cow about it." Shinji replied.

The two laughed at this, for some reason the just wanted to piss the world off today. Cleaning up the table the two set off towards school. As usual they met up with Akane and Rei half way there. Akane was wearing her hair up, for obvious reasons. The four of the conversed amongst themselves as they continued to walk to school. Upon arriving at school the for of them were confronted by Hikari, who was not to pleased.

"You two were supposed to serve detention this Saturday, where were you?" she glared at Shinji and Akane

The two shrugged her off as Akane answered back. "We had, better things to do."

Asuka let out a small laugh at this. Hikari then turned her attention to Asuka. "What is so funny?"

"You" Asuka replied, "You make such a big deal out of the smallest of things, its kind of funny."

"Asuka, why are you acting like this?" Hikari asked "Its like you and Shinji are completely different people now."

"Look, we Eva pilots may die in the next Angel attack, so I say we might as well live life to its fullest." Asuka stated "Come on guys, lets go, we're going to be late for class" she mocked Hikari. With that the four continued on their way, brushing past Hikari. This is when Hikari noticed three of the four tattoos.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she exclaimed "WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE THOSE?" clearly out raged by the markings on the back of Shinji, Rei, and Akanes necks. Akane turned around and smirked.

"Its our gangs symbol" she said this knowing it would piss off the class rep to no end. There were two things that would set Hikari faster then a firecracker, one being drugs of any kind that was not over the counter, the second of course being gangs and anything associated with them, including tattoos. Though Akane really didn't view the four of them as a gang. The four left Hikari there. Hikari then came to relize that she didn't see a tattoo on Asuka. This gave her hope, perhaps her and Asuka could still restore their friendship that Akane had destroyed. She couldn't believe Shinji being in a gang of any kind, but what surprised her even more was Rei, Shinji was actually somewhat social to a select few but Rei seemed to have been void of all emotions until recently, now she was smiling and laughing with the others. Not to mention the tattoo on the back of her neck and joining this gang.

A few minutes went by before the first bell rang, signaling all the students to head to their homerooms.. Hikari was the last one to enter the class room, as she was making sure all the others were in first. She then took her seat behind Asuka. With a sigh she leaned forward some to speak with Asuka.

"I don't mind that you have some fun, but I am glad you are not part of this gang Akane has." she stated

Asuka only smiled at this, though Hikari couldn't see. She then turned around to face her.

"But I am." she smiled then turned back around parting the back of her long hair, exposing her own tattoo. Hikari leaned back into her seat in disbelief, not even doing her stand and bow routine when the teacher came in the room, not like he would have noticed anyways. But Touji did. It was no secret that he liked Hikari, though he would deny it if asked. He didn't like how things were turning out. He figured the source of the problem was Akane herself, but he couldn't confront her about this, he had a code, never hit a woman. The next obvious step was to talk to the only man in their circle, Shinji. Class slowly crept by as the teacher rattled on and on about how life was before the second impact and how his old home was now completely underwater. The four did as they usually did, chatting amongst themselves through the class chat rooms. Hikari didn't even bother monitoring it this time, it was pointless, they weren't careless enough to expose what ever they were doing, all they did was talk about hanging out after school, going to the mall, or one of their newest topics was starting a band. Finally the lunch bell rang after what seemed like years. The four of them gathered their lunchs and made their way out of the class room, heading outside towards their usual tree hang out.

"Hey Shinji!" Touji called out from behind them, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Shinji looked over his shoulder at him. "What?"

"I'd like to have a word with you."

Shinji shrugged and walked over to where Touji was, followed by the three girls.

"Alone please" Touji looked at the girls.

"Nope, what ever you have to say to him you can say it in front of us." Akane shot at him.

"You're the cause of all this!"

"Look, you called me over here to talk to me, so talk to me, not them" Shinji put in, setting his foot down for Touji to get to the point.

"Look, I don't like the way you have been treating Hikari, you've been showing a lot of disrespect towards her." Touji said "Now when she tells you to do something, I expect you to do it." he tried to intimidate Shinji, but it was obvious it wasn't working. Touji could see very clearly now that Shinji had changed considerably since over the weekend.

"Look, Hikari is just going to have to understand that she cant get everything her way, just because you jump whenever she calls doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

Touji frowned at this. "Look, none of us are liking this new attitude of yours. You skip class, you ignore what your being told, and you constantly blow off Hikari, show her the respect she deserves."

"I got an idea." Shinji smiled

"And whats that?"

"Why don't you go shove your dick into her ass, so she wont be such a pain in mine." Shinji retorted. This caused the other three girls to burst out laughing, but Touji had heard enough. Clenching his fist he lurched himself forward toward Shinji in anger. However over the passed weeks time, Shinji had changed considerably, he was no longer the frail, gentle pilot he once was. Now he wasn't afraid to put forth the hand to hand combat the Nerv training had taught him, seeing the punch coming he simply leaned back just far enough out of range. It was at this time, both Akane and Asuka jumped into action, each positioning themselves on either side, and bringing forth their knees with great speed into Toujis sides. This sent Touji to his knees before Shinji, whom took this opportunity to kick him in the face, blood splattered onto the ground. Even Rei got a kick in before Kensuke and Hikari came around the corner looking for Touji. Seeing his limp body lying on the ground they rushed to his side.

"What the hell happened?" Hikari yelled at them as she looked down at Touji, tears filling up her eyes.

"He tried to hit me" Shinji answered.

Kensuke looked over the group, trying to figure out what happened. Shinji may have been telling the truth, Touji was always quick tempered, but he was also a big guy, no way Shinji could have taken him down himself, this lead to the conclusion that the girls must have jumped in as well. This angered him. Without thinking Kensuke clenched his fist and threw a wild punch at Shinji. Shinji already saw this coming and evaded it with ease, bringing in his own fist and burying it deep within Kensuke stomach. Kensuke fell to his knees feeling like someone had thrown a baseball into his belly, this caused him to throw up some blood and bits of what was left of his breakfast. Hikari looked on in horror, then back up to Shinji.

"As you saw it was self defense, he tried to attack me." Shinji replied without even looking at her. With that the four walked away. Finishing the rest of the lunch break at their usual tree, just off school grounds. The rest of the school day went on without any further incident, soon the final bell rang. The four got up and made their way out of school. Shinji agreed to call Akane as soon as they were done, then parted ways. It wasn't long before the three Eva pilots stood in front of the large doors the lead into the main hall of Nerv, letting out a sigh the three entered and made their way to the debriefing room, as ordered. They each picked their seats and waited for it to begin. They didn't have to wait long, five minutes went by before Dr. Akagi entered the room carrying four folders,each color coded, followed by a young girl around Shinji's age with short red hair and blue eyes. Misato followed in behind the others. The girl took a seat across from the others, looking a little shy.

"This is our new pilot, Mana Kishiarama, she was transferred her from America so please welcome her."

The young girl gave the other three a silent nod in greeting, which was returned.

"Now todays test is just a simple sync test to see how far you've come in the passed few months.." Akagi began "So into your plug suitsand report to your Evas."

With that the four pilots got up and exited the room. It was at this time Akagi noticed the tattoos on the backs of Shinjis and Reis neck and gave Misato a glare, which usually meant they had to talk. After the pilots left the room Akagi turned to Misato.

"Please tell me those are fake tattoos the children are wearing."

"No, their real." Misato answered with a sigh "Asuka has one too."

"How the hell could you let them do something like that."

"I didn't, they got them done one night while they were out. I don't think it will affect their ability to pilot Eva though."

Moments later the pilots were in the entry plugs waiting for further instructions. Asuka, Shinji, and Rei opened their communication channels and began to chat amongst, careful to what they were saying. Mana just listened in, a little interested in what they were saying and laughing to herself at the jokes they told. Finally Akagi and Misato showed up and began the test. Akagi scanned the monitors making notes of the sync ratios each pilot held. She was impressed at Manas score, as it held just above average. She then to the others scores and nearly fell over, Each of three pilots held a score between 70 to 75. This was the first time she had ever seen the three hold such a high score.. She then began to ponder what could cause such an increase, she decided she would have Mana hang out with them, perhaps they could also raise her score as well.. At last the tests were over and the pilots found themselves back in the debriefing room..

"Incredible results," Akagi began "You all broke your previous sync ratio records. This concludes the tests. Dismissed."

The four got up to leave the room before Akagi stopped them "Rei, I have another test for you to take."

Rei let out a slight sigh and nodded. Akagi didn't take note of the sight as she turned to the remaining pilots "Could you and Asuka please show Mana around the city to get her familiar with it?" with that Akagi turned and walked down the corridor to the elevator

"Yes ma'am" Shinji answered. He then walked over to Rei and handed her his cell phone "Call us when your done, we'll be waiting for you." With that they went their own ways, Rei following Akagi.

Akagi and Rei took the elevator down to the lower levels of Central Dogma where Gendo awaited them in a large room with a cylinder tube filled with LCL in the center of it, connected to a large machine.

"Remove all of your clothing and enter the tube" Akagi ordered Rei. Normally Rei would do it without question, but she hesitated, looking to the commander for a second before complying. Entering the tube she let out a sigh, which could only be noted by the bubbles that came from her mouth. Gendo watched on as the test proceeded over the next hour.

Meanwhile Asuka, Shinji and Mana made their way out of the Nerv building. Mana following behind the two.

"So um, where are we going?" Mana asked in a shy voice.

"To a friends house to hang out while we wait for Rei." Shinji answered, turning around to glance at her. He couldn't help but notice how cute she was, no where near as attractive as Asuka but at the same time would still be able to give her some competition.

"oh, ok" Mana replied. Looking at the two in front of her, she noticed how close they seemed, much like a family would be. She also noticed the tattoo on the back of Shinjis neck, and only part of Asukas. She then began to ponder if Shinji was single or if one of the other pilots, or another girl had already set their claim on him. She may be an Eva pilot but that didn't mean she couldn't have herself a boyfriend. She became lost in her own thoughts not paying attention to where they were going until they stopped in front of an apartment door. Shinji knocked on the door, then entered not waiting for an answer.

"Akane?" Shinji called out.

"In the kitchen" a voice came from another room, then came the person to which that voice belonged to. Seeing Mana she froze a second in shock but quickly shook it away before the others would notice. "Did Rei dye her hair?" she asked

"No, this is Mana she's the new Eva pilot we got today, Rei will be by later, she had more tests to do" Shinji answered.

"Oh, hi" Akane greeted her with her usual cheery voice

Back at Nerv the test was finally concluding as Akagi looked over the final results. She then looked up to Rei.

"Ok, we're finished" she said

Gendo looked on at Rei and smiled "Lets go eat" he stated as Rei got out of the tube.

"I have previous arrangements" Rei answered as she began to put her cloths back on.

"Then you will cancel them."

Rei paused for a moment before looking to the commander "No, I will not" she said, her voice more defiant. Then turned around to finish dressing. She smiled to herself, as she had did this for one major reason, much like Asuka, was to show off her tattoo. And it succeeded as Gendos eyes went wide when she defied him. Even more so when he saw the tattoo. He then looked to Akagi.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"All the pilots have it" she simply answered "However I must say all three pilots sync ratios are impressive despite the fact."

"Rei, you will have that mark removed" he ordered.

Rei looked back at him. "No" she stated . She then reached into her pocket and took out the cell phone Shinji gave her and dialed Asukas cell phones number. The phone rang for a second before Asuka answered laughing. However the phone was on speaker phone so even Gendo and Akagi could over hear the conversation without any effort.

Hello?

"I'm on my way" Rei said into the phone

Greeeeeat! HEY WATCH WHERE YOUR STICKING THAT THING!

HEY NO FAIR, TWO AGAINST ONE Rei could hear Shinji yelling in the back as Mana and Akane had pinned him to the floor ASUKA HELP!

Rei couldn't help but laugh at this as she pictured the event in her mind, then blushed as her thoughts took a side street down Hentai Avenue. She then quickly left the room, leaving both Akagi and Gendo in a stupor, more so at the fact that Rei had actually laughed, as well as her defiance.  
"This was not in the scenario." Gendo commented as he regained his composure. "She will be punished for this disobedience"

Rei hurried over to Akanes as fast as she could not to keep them waiting any longer then they already had.

"Hey Rei" Akane greeted as she entered the apartment, "Glad you could make it, hurry up and join in, we're about to start." Rei nodded and hurried to a spot near Shinji as they all sat down. Mana followed, unknowingly sat in the circle as well. Akane then produced an already loaded bowl and a lighter. Firing it up she took the first hit and passed it to Shinji on her right. The process continued until it reached Mana, she knew what to do but was struggling within herself wheather or not she should have do it or not. Reaching a decision she placed the pipe up to her lips and fired it up, inhaling and holding it in for a little bit before starting to cough, then passed it, completing the circle. It wasn't long before the bowl was empty and the five of them were sitting around laughing about the days events. Mana went on about how when she was on the ship a gust of wind came up and gave its crew a free show for a second. Asuka laughed the loudest as she could relate to this, as she told Mana the same thing happened to her.

"So. Shall we make another visit to my room?" Akane asked with a grin.

"What about Mana? We cant just leave her out here." Shinji commented.

"She's invited too"

"You sure about this?" He asked looking at the girls in front of him.

"Look, I can see she has a crush on you, shes been staring at you off and on the whole time. Not to mention you've been looking her over too. So yeah, we can include her, after all she's one of us now."

Asuka and Rei didn't really mind, Asuka had the home field advantage. Mana looked over the group unsure of what was going on while Shinji worried about having four girlfriends. Never in his life would he have ever dreamed of this. But soon they all found themselves in Akanes bedroom. Akane was the first to get the ball rolling, pushing Mana into Shinji.

Authors Notes: Well that's it for chapter 5. For those who wanted me to include Mana in this, there ya go. Now I wonder how will Gendo punish Rei for her sudden disobedience? Anyways, I only had up to chapter 5 pre written so may take a little longer to get chapter six up and going. I write my fics in two forms, first draft in long hand, and I do my editing while typing it up. On to the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not own Evangelion or any of its characters. Gainax and all respected affiliates do.


	6. Chapter 6

-1Lite Up

Chapter 6: Secrets Revealed -part 1-

By: shinjitheassassin

"So, they sent you here too?" Akane asked as she looked over the city under the fading light as nightfall began to descend on Tokyo 3, from atop her apartment building.

"Yep." Mana answered as she took another drag off the blunt they were smoking and passed it back to Akane. The other three had left just over an hour ago.

"Does he know yet?" Mana asked as she stole a glance over to her friend.

"No, not yet. I want to tell him but I just don't know how.

"So your interest in him is beyond professional." Mana teased, causing Akane to blush.

"Like yours is?" she quickly shot back, causing Mana to blush as well. The two laughed. Earlier they acted as if this was their first time meeting, but in reality they had nearly grown up together, and were roommates while in America.

"So where are you staying at?" Akane asked.

"Actually I havnt found a place yet, I was ordered to report to Nerv as soon as I got here and of course I was brought here after the tests."

"Well then, its settled."

"What is?"  
"You'll live here." Akane smiled "We'll be roomies again."

Mana smiled at this. "Sounds fun."

The two continued to talk for another hour before heading back down to the apartment.

Shinji and Asuka got home around 7:30 that evening, in a good mood until they were greeted by a very unhappy Misato.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do." she began to scold them, having read the report of what happened at school.

"About what?" Shinji asked.

"Why your class mate, Touji had to be taken to the emergency room today."

"Well…." Asuka started but couldn't find the words to continue.

"He tried to attack me, so I defended myself." Shinji started "What was I supposed to do, just let him beat me to a pulp?" he continued, with defiance in his voice. This somewhat caught Misato off guard.

"No, no I suppose not." Misato said "I just don't understand why you guys are fighting now after being such good friends."

"I'm not sure why either" shinji said, going back to his usual tone of voice.

"He's just jealous" Asuka put in, with her usual boastfulness

"Of what?" Misato asked, confused.

"That Shinji has four beautiful girlfriends." she continued, forgetting Misato didn't know that Shinji was dating all of them.

"WHAT! FOUR!?" Misato yelled in surprise as she looked at him. All Shinji could do was laugh nervously. 'And I thought Kaji was bad' Misato thought to herself.

"Nice going Asuka" Shinji said to her, who had just realized what she had done.

"Heh heh, sorry."

Misato then asked "Ok, so how did this all happen?"

Shinji let out a sigh "Can we at least eat first?" he said, looking for an excuse to put it off just a little longer.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Asuka put in.

"Ok, but I want to hear it all after dinner"

"Yes ma'am" Shinji relented and made his way to the kitchen followed closely by Asuka.

"Why did you have to tell her?" Shinji asked Asuka

"It kinda slipped." Asuka nervously smiled, as she had forgotten that Misato wasn't in on their little group.

Shinji opened up the freezer and grabbed two of the dinners that were in there, handing one to Asuka. The two then set to work preparing theirs. After a few moments they sat down at the table to eat while Misato went to her room.

Finally after the two had finished eating, Misato sat down at the table with a can of beer, as normal.

"So?"

Shinji sighed, he had hoped that she had forgotten about it, but apparently she did not. "Well as you already knew, Akane and I started dating first, and well few days later Asuka confessed her feelings to me, which put me in a tight spot. I didn't want to hurt either of them so the three of us talked it over and Akane suggested that I date her also." Shinji began. He was careful to leave out anything to do with the smoking. "And well, I've also had a thing for Rei, ever since the first day I got here.."

"Wait, your dating Rei too?" Misato interrupted him. Though after she asked it she mentally kicked herself for it not being obvious to her, Recently Rei was always with them.

"Yes." Shinji answered with another sigh.

"Ok, so that's three, so who's the fourth?"

"Mana" Shinji blushed.

"What? She just got here, and your already dating her?" Misato exclaimed, then laughed. "Your not really giving any of the other guys a chance." she smiled.

"Like I would want to date any of those other idiots!" Asuka stated.

Misato looked over the other two. It was weird to her still that Shinji and Asuka were dating, and even more so with the knowledge that Shinji, they once shy and reserved boy she first took in, was now dating four girls at once.

"Well, I am going to bed, they called me in for work tomorrow to look over some paper work." Misato said as she got up from the table and left the kitchen entering her own room and closing the door behind her.

"Well that went better then I was expecting." Shinji said as he stared at Misatos door, he had expected her to make a bigger scene out of it then what she did. He then looked at Asuka. "Well I think I will head to bed too, I'm exhausted."

Asuka smiled at this, she knew exactly why he was exhausted, and she couldn't blame him really. She then leaned down and kissed him "Good night, third child" she said and headed off to her own room. Shinji sat there for a few more seconds before getting up and wandering into his room, crashing on the bed.

Morning came far to quickly for the two pilots as they dragged themselves out of bed. Going through their usual morning routine before heading off to school. As usual they met up with Akane and Rei half way there. Akane informed them that Mana had already left because she had to turn in paper work to the schools office to complete her transfer. As soon as the four reached school they saw Mana, who happened to be talking to Touji, Kensuke and Hikari.

"So you the new transfer student?" Kensuke asked excitedly.

"Yep"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Kensuke asked, with the same excitement if not more.

"Yeah I do." Mana answered and smiled as she saw her friends approaching, "And here he comes now."

"That's great," Hikari said happily, but her voice trailed off as she follow Manas line of eye sight and saw Shinji and his group approaching. "We should get out of here." she then suggested.

"Why?" Mana asked, though she had already guessed that Akane had set up her normal reputation.

"To avoid any trouble." Hikari answered, and tried to pull Mana with them, but she brushed passed them and stood in front of the three.

"Took you long enough." Mana teased Akane. "I thought you weren't going to wake up this morning." Akane just shrugged.

"You know her?" Kensuke asked.

"Yep, she's my roommate" Mana turned and smiled at the three behind her.

"Great another one." Touji spat and entered the school building.

"Man, does she have to corrupt everyone she talks to." Kensuke added and followed. Hikari didn't say anything as she looked at Asuka, still hurt that she had lost her best friend, she just turned and walked into the school, leaving the group outside.

"I take it you already had problems with those three?" Mana asked.

"yeah, kind of a long story." Shinji answered as the five entered the school and made their way to class. Akane passed Mana a small piece of paper that held their groups room name and password for the in class chat room they usually chatted in. Then each took their seat, Mana stood at the front of the room for a moment as the teacher introduced her to the class then took a seat just to the right of Shinji. The teacher then took role call before beginning his normal lesson. The group proceeded with their normal routine, opening the chat room to silently chat amongst themselves.

Mana So whats the plan for lunch today?  
Akane We'll probably do our usual thing and hang out by the old tree on the hill just off school grounds.

Asuka Yeah, it's a great spot

Hikari read on, this time she decided to snoop into their chat room. She knew they left school grounds but she didn't know where the went. But now that she had found out, maybe she could catch them in the act. Time crept by again as the teacher continued to drone on about the Second Impact until finally the lunch bell rang. As usual the group left the class and made their way off campus as planned, while they did this, Hikari approached Kensuke and Toji.

"Come on, I know where their going." she stated.

"What? Who?……oh" Toji said as it finally registered who she was talking about, honestly not to thrilled about the idea as his side still ached. "But why follow them?"

"To catch them and find out what they are up to." she said and lead the way, the other two reluctantly following. Meanwhile the gang reached the tree and where making themselves comfortable as Akane proceeded to with draw the item in question from her pocket. Lighting it up and taking a puff before passing it. Mana turned and positioned herself on the side of the tree, and just in time too as she saw the three heading up the hill where they were.

"We got incoming you guys." she warned her group, who immediately took heed and put away the joint, and began to talk amongst each other, more so focused on the band they wanted to create.

"I think Shinji should sing." Akane stated.

"I'll play lead guitar!" Asuka shouted excitedly.

"I'll be rythem." Akane put in.

"I guess I will take the keyboard." Mana stated as she turned away from the tree facing the group, just as Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke got there.

'Hey Hikari, fancy seeing you here." Asuka commeneted, a slight tone of saracasim in her voice. Hikari frowned in disappointment, she was hoping to catch them doing something more then just chatting.

"I just thought I would see whats so special about this place, you guys always leave school or skip class to come here."

"Its nice up here, good view of the town." Shinji commented. "besides, its like they teach us anything new, he just rambles on about his life before the Second Impact." Hikari couldn't really argue this, with the exception of the basic math matics, that was really all the teacher went on about. Asuka then looked at Hikari and smiled, Hikari didn't like the way she was smiling.

"You came here to check on us didn't you? Make sure we aint doing anything we're not supposed to, right?"

Hikari frowned, Asuka knew her too well, but decided to not say anything.

"I know you been in our chat rooms Hikari, we're not stupid." Asuka continued.

Silence hung in there air for a few moments until the school bell in the distance could be heard.

"We better get back to class" Hikari said, still looking at the group in front of her, though she knew the answer, she asked, "Are you guys coming back this afternoon?"

"We'll think about it." Akane teased, they had no intention of returning to school, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Well in that case I will let you know now that there is a school dance coming up, everyone is asked to bring something if they come." Hikari informed them. With that the three left Shinjis group, heading back to school.

"Dance huh?" Shinji asked.

No sooner had Toji and Kensuke got back to school, Toji was called into the office. For what reasons no one could tell, but when he got back he had an air of depression about him, looking at the small slip of paper that was given to him, telling him where to go and when.

Within thirty minutes the group found them back at Akanes apartment, resuming what they had started during lunch before they were interrupted. Passing it around as they discussed the schools upcoming dance, and what they could bring.

"I can bring brownies." Akane suggested, grinning at Mana, who had a good idea where she was going with this.

"You mean your 'special' brownies don't you."

"Of course!"

"Special brownies?" the other three asked, confused.

"Yes, Akane here is going to add a secret ingredient to the batch." Mana began to explain as Akane grinned mischievously.

"I think I understand." Shinji smiled.

"But we should do something to really liven up the dance." Asuka stated.

"Well what can we do?"

There was a silence for a moment or two before Rei spoke up "Well I got an idea." she said, getting every ones attention as she began to tell them her plan.

"OH MY GOD REI! THAT'S HORRIBLE!" Asuka exclaimed then smiled "Lets do it! I can keep Hikari distracted long enough, Shinji its going to be your job to get the other two stooges away so we can pull this off."

"Yeah, but wont Akane get blamed?" Shinji pointed out.

"That's why she is going with you baka, that way they will see she had nothing to do with it." Asuka seemed to have already had this all planned out. Akane flipped on the TV and turned onto an old station that was showing late 90's sporting events, the program that just happened to be on was a wrestling match between a famous John Cena against a man called The Undertaker. The group watched with interest.

"We should do these moves against the next Angel we fight." Asuka commented with a laugh.

The next week seemed to fly by, there were no angel attacks or tedious testing required for the pilots. They had gotten all the items they needed to move forward with their plan at the school dance, chuckling amongst each other as they barely kept it under wraps at school, they knew it was a bad thing to do, but just imagining the results was to great to pass up. Finally the day of the dance arrived, many of the students had made a big deal about it bringing food and drinks. While most brought paper cups and plates, Hikari brought a rather large bowl of punch, setting it on the table she hurried to help the others finish the final set ups. She sneered when she saw Akane and her group enter the room, she had hoped they wouldn't have come. But at least they had brought something to contribute to the dance, so that was a good mark for her she mentally noted. It wasn't long before the dance got underway. As planned Asuka approached Hikari.

"Hikari, can I…..talk to you…in private?" Asuka asked, looking around to see if the others were ready.

"Um.. Ok" Hikari answered, a little confused, but followed Asuka to the girls rest room so that they could talk. "So whats on your mind?"

"I….I just wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Well, I was wondering why you don't like Akane."

Hikari was taken aback by this question. "Well I suppose its how she acts I guess." truth was Hikari didn't know why she didn't like her.

"Have you ever tried hanging out with her?"

"With the rumors that surround her? No way!"

"So you've based your judgment on her from rumors?"

Hikari saw where Asuka was going with this, she had based her decision on rumors. This made her feel guilty to say the least. "I know what your trying to say Asuka, and your right, I did base my decision of her on rumors." she lowered her head partly in shame.

During this time Shinji had approached his two old friends, Akane close behind him. Kensuke had a depressed look on his face, no one had asked him to the dance. This did give Shinji an idea that would do two things, help Kensuke and keep Akanes name clear for what was about to go down.

"Akane, why don't you dance with Aida while I talk with Toji." he said.

"Alright." Akane smiled, before Kensuke could voice his opinion, she had grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor.

"So what was that all about Ikari?" Toji asked.

"He looked depressed, figured dancing with a girl would cheer him up."

"And it had to be Akane?"

"Why don't you guys like her? I mean shes not a bad person."

"You kidding? With the rumors that follow her around?"

Shinji frowned at this, he had heard the rumors, but found them for the most part to be false. Though she did have a knack for getting into trouble, but then again she was a normal teenager "You know, none of those rumors are true." he finally answered.

"Well she certainly changed you." Toji spat.

"I changed myself, people do change." he looked to his old friend.

"I guess your right." Toji sighed.

As planned, while Asuka kept Hikari busy, and Shinji distracting Toji, Rei had slipped up to the refreshment table while everyone was dancing. Opening a bottle she emptied its contents into the punch and slipped away, without no one noticing. She had spiked the punch with vodka. She gave the signal to Akane who was watching and slipped out the door to discard the bottle to remove all traces of her actions. It worked; as the night drew on, Hikari returned from the bathroom after talking with Asuka, between eating the brownies that Akane had brought and drinking the punch. It wasn't long before her and many of the other students started feeling the effects of the combination. Reluctantly she had to have Toji carry her to his house, hers was too far away and he didn't want to wake her sisters.

The next morning found the classroom very empty, many of the students had hang overs and where at home sleeping in, only Shinjis group, Toji, and Kensuke were in the room. Toji had a flushed look on his face. Hikari entered the class room, late for a change. Rubbing her temples as she battled the headache inside. Then she did something that caught everyone present in the room a surprise, she walked over to Toji and bent down, kissing him full on the lips. Even the teacher had stopped his lesson at this action and looked to be on the verge of a heart attack.

Authors notes: Well, chapter 6 is done. I guess part of the reason for this chapter was to show that dispite her actions, Akane is actually a good person, just misunderstood. Also the dance served for those who wanted the "special" brownies included as well as to get Hikari a little in on the actions, which brings me to this question.

Please Vote: Should I include Hikari into the mix? Please respond to this via email at please label the subject Hikari so I don't just trash it.

Disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not own Evangelion nor any of its characters. Nor do I own the name John Cena or the Undertaker. Those belong to their respected holders.


	7. Intermission

-1Lite Up

Intermission

By: Midnight Lost

Greetings readers, sorry no update as of yet but having taken the time to re-read this entire fic of what I have so far I have decided that due to a large amount of typos and time line errors I am going to re-write it from the very beginning, adding more detail. There will also be some character changes in Akane. However I will leave this "classical" version of it to posted. Anyways this is just a short note to let everyone know, so be on the look out for **Lite Up: 4:20 Edition**


End file.
